G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon Chu is set to direct the big screen adaptation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. This movie that has been trying to get made for years, and it looks like it's finally going to happen with Chu at the helm.

In a recent interview with CeleBuzz the director talks about about the film project, why he decided to adapt another toy franchise, how and why he was blown away by the script, and when the movie will start shooting. There's a lot of good info here that might help get you more excited about this long awaited movie. Here's what the director had to say...

On Why He Chose to Make Another Classic Toy Adaptation:

I was approached about doing a Masters of the Universe movie and while at first I was skeptical, I read the script and I was blown away. I had no idea what to expect but it was such a fresh, UNEXPECTED approach I was immediately intrigued. I never expected to connect on a human level to a MOTU movie but I really plugged in emotionally. That alone, got me excited to see what we could do with the property.

MOTU is such a challenging puzzle to make into a movie that works to a contemporary audience but the script seemed to really crack it for me. I think people are really going to be surprised at the rich story we have the opportunity to tell in this world. Where you think MOTU goes left, the script goes right and it was just very clear to me this was something very special. It was never a conscious decision to do another “toy” movie but when I read this I couldn’t put it down. And I definitely couldn’t let anyone else make it but myself. It was just too much fun.

On How much room he has to play with to adapt the franchise, and how the 1987 won't be his inspiration:

I feel like there’s a lot of room to crack open the Masters of the Universe story. We are still in our process and I think we have some great seeds planted but making one of these types of movies RIGHT takes a lot of TONAL tightroping so we’re just going to play for the next several months. Play with designs, play with the characters, try new things, maybe go too far on some things and pull back. The process is really important to find where the right line is so we can land right on it. I think that’s what can dig out the properties full potential for a cinematic rebirth.

I don’t really think about the 80s movie when looking at this movie because the script here is so strong and so unique. I think the characters are so grounded and layered I never expected that in a Masters movie so to me it’s on a totally different level. Don’t get me wrong, I love the 80s movie for full nostalgic reasons but this script feels like it’s a totally different genre than that one.

On when he will start shooting the film:

I can’t say exactly, but my first priority right now is still G.I. Joe: Retaliation. We are finishing the dimensionalizing of the film and I want the audience to be blown away by the 3D work we do in it so that takes a lot of my time and energy currently. It’s a lot of technical and creative stuff put together which I love. I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve done, finally!"

Like G.I. Joe I was a huge fan of He-Man when I was a kid, I owned a lot of the toys and the Castle Greyskull playset. I even remember this one playset I had where you could pour some neon green slime all over your toys. It was some kind of He-Man torture thing. Needless to say I'm excited to see a new movie getting made, and it's great to hear that the script has the potential to blow us away.

I'm looking forward to the G.I. Joe movie as well, I really loved what I saw from the stuff that was released before the film's release date was pushed to March 29th, 2013. If it turns out to actually be good, then I'll be even more excited to see Chu's vision of He-Man up on the big screen! What do you think about what Chu had to say about his next epic film project?

Joey Paur — Co-Founder / Editor of GeekTyrant.com, and if you haven't noticed I write… a lot. Movies are my passion and I live and breathe all things geek. This site is part of my life's work, it's a part of me. I love what I do, and I enjoy sharing everything I can with you when it comes to movies and geekery. In my spare time I travel to the netherworlds to battle demons.
@JoeyPaur | joeypaur@geektyrant.com